Eating dunes for desert

The next part of the day had ace rally drivers Gaurav Gill, Sunny Sidhu and Lohitt Urs (all drive for Mahindra in rally events) displaying what the specially-prepped rally XUV 500, Thar and Scorpio were capable of in the desert. Some drifting, sliding and lots of dust flying around had all the participants forget about that much-needed bio-break.

The final part of the day involved climbing up some steep desert inclines, then some harsh sand dunes. The trick to climbing over an incline is simple. Just build momentum before the steep part of the climb starts and keep going. In case you lose momentum mid-way, just come down a gear (if you can) or simply roll back and do it again. You can also start from standstill in third gear and just allow speed to build up. The Thar will simply go. The only hesitation is from the driver or co-passengers. The Thar is never found wanting.

All in all, this was great way to celebrate the success of what is one of India’s premier off-roading events. Plus I ended up with newfound respect for the charms of simple, mechanics, devoid of any interference from electronic assistance. It’s simply amazing how much fun and driver involvement you can achieve just by keeping all that technology at bay.